Auto show emphasizes information over sales

Updated 7:20 pm, Thursday, November 15, 2012

Photo: Lisa Krantz, San Antonio Express-News

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Joe Lyons, right, looks at a 2013 Cadillac XTS with the help of Cadillac product specialist Ashley Jackson during the San Antonio Auto and Truck Show at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center on Thursday, Nov. 15, 2012. less

Joe Lyons, right, looks at a 2013 Cadillac XTS with the help of Cadillac product specialist Ashley Jackson during the San Antonio Auto and Truck Show at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center on Thursday, Nov. ... more

Photo: Lisa Krantz, San Antonio Express-News

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Joe Lyons, right, looks at a 2013 Cadillac XTS with the help of Cadillac product specialist Ashley Jackson during the San Antonio Auto and Truck Show at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center on Thursday, Nov. 15, 2012. less

Joe Lyons, right, looks at a 2013 Cadillac XTS with the help of Cadillac product specialist Ashley Jackson during the San Antonio Auto and Truck Show at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center on Thursday, Nov. ... more

Photo: Lisa Krantz, San Antonio Express-News

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Gloria Whitsel, of Grand Prarie, left, and Melanie Kaiser, of Maine, right, try out a 2013 Chevy Corvette Grand Sport Convertible during the San Antonio Auto and Truck Show at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center on Thursday, Nov. 15, 2012. Kaiser's husband is being honored at the show as a Master Technician of the Year with General Motors. less

Gloria Whitsel, of Grand Prarie, left, and Melanie Kaiser, of Maine, right, try out a 2013 Chevy Corvette Grand Sport Convertible during the San Antonio Auto and Truck Show at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention ... more

Photo: Lisa Krantz, San Antonio Express-News

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Thomas Hannibal, of Fair Oaks Ranch, looks at the Honda display as he makes his way around the San Antonio Auto and Truck Show at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center on Thursday, Nov. 15, 2012.

Thomas Hannibal, of Fair Oaks Ranch, looks at the Honda display as he makes his way around the San Antonio Auto and Truck Show at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center on Thursday, Nov. 15, 2012.

Photo: Lisa Krantz, San Antonio Express-News

Auto show emphasizes information over sales

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Even though they wouldn't make a single sale, dozens of auto dealers maintained their characteristic charm Thursday at the start of the San Antonio Auto and Truck Show at the Convention Center.

Instead of focusing on sealing a deal, automaker and dealership representatives must vie for visitors' attention by offering the best information about the more than 300 cars and trucks that filled more than 300,000 square feet of exhibit space.

“There's no pressure to walk away with anything,” said Tom Osborn, a 72-year-old San Antonio resident. “No one's breathing down your neck (to) get you to sign a dotted line.”

With plans to purchase a new car sometime next year, Osborn and his wife test drove a 2012 Toyota Venza as part of a ride-and-drive event that Toyota first hosted last year.

The event was so popular that Nissan and Ford joined this year, SAADA President Pamela Crail said.

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She expected about 100,000 attendees at this year's show, which runs through Sunday.

“In the past few years, whenever the economy has been down, our numbers have been a bit down,” Crail said, “but we are growing each year.

“Our hope is the economy jumpstarts our attendance. I do anticipate it.”

If attendance surges, that could mean big bucks for the automakers and dealers.

According to Crail, at least 25 percent to 30 percent of those who attend the auto show intend to buy a vehicle within 30 to 90 days.

That proportion could grow higher this year, as consumers looking to replace their aging vehicles have given automakers some of their best sales in five years.

While Osborn said the engines in his family's cars work fine, he said it was time to trade in his 13- and 15-year-old vehicles for something new.

Not long after doors opened Thursday, visitors filled the spacious exhibit halls and sat in driver's seats, scoped out the size of trunks and chatted with dealers at ease. Some attendees even walked away with cards that dealership representatives slipped into their hands.

More Information

S.A. Auto Show

mySA.com:
To see a slideshow of photos from the San Antonio Auto and Truck Show.